


Yellow Roses

by KarainRed (orphan_account)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: A Choice With No Regrets spoilers (that everyone already knows), Gen, Manga Spoilers, characters died but everyone knows that already, other characters not mentioned in tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-03
Updated: 2014-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-11 00:05:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1166227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/KarainRed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The color reminded Levi of sunshine. They reminded Levi of sunshine too, despite everything.</p><p>Levi made a promise to do the same thing every year after the first rains of spring began to fall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Yellow Roses

**Author's Note:**

> It's a self-indulgent oneshot in remembrance of dead characters based on a personal family traditon. Don't expect much.

For a man driven by pride and self-respect, Levi hated being forced into a corner.

When he strode into the main headquarters of the Military Police, tucked in the shadows of the King’s palace in Sina’s innermost district, his nerves were wound tight and muscles coiled tense. He shrugged off the soldier who stepped forward to offer assistance, snapping that he knew where he was going already. No one else attempted to interfere, and Levi made his way up stairs and down hallways until he came to the door he’d been seeking. Stopping, he took a deep breath before knocking.

“Come in.”

He hated to hold back the insults, hated to bow his head to anyone, but when he saw no other option he would grit his teeth and bear it. Entering the office of the Commander of the Military Police, he strode forward. He didn’t sit, stopping across from the man seated at the desk and waiting until he was acknowledged.

Nile Dawk didn’t lift his gaze. He continued to work as he spoke. “I never would have expected to see you here.” Signing the document before him, he set it aside and turned his attention to the next. “Did Erwin send you?”

“I need your help.”

Those words prompted actual acknowledgement from the Commander. Setting aside his pen, hazel eyes lifted to meet the lowered stare of the Captain across from him. A smile pulled at one corner of the man’s lips; beyond that there was no trace of amusement to his actions, no lording the request over Levi’s head or casually stretching out across the chair.

“I need seven yellow roses.”

“I’m not a florist, Levi.” Amusement was released in a single bark of laughter. “But I can still tell you that it’s too early in the season for roses. Look for yourself in a month.”

Shaking his head, the man reached again for his pen. It was a gesture that the conversation was over, one that Levi intercepted as both hands smacked flat against the edge of the desk. The sound stopped Nile, gaze lifting again.

“I _need_ them by next week. And if anyone is going to have them _now_ , they are going to be in Sina, catering to some spoiled-ass nobles.”

Silence followed Levi’s words, broken only by a sigh as Nile rested an elbow on the desk and his chin on in his opened hand. “I’ll see what I can do. Come back in a week.”

Levi turned, exiting the room without another word. It was a week later that he returned, angered shame once more in his stride as he entered the Military Police headquarters and made his way to the Commander’s office. He didn’t bother knocking; the man ought to have expected his eventual appearance.

When Levi entered, he refused to give voice to the wave of relief that found him at the bundled yellow at one edge of the desk. Moving without a word, he picked up the flowers and began to count.

 _Six…seven…eight?_ “Who the fuck taught you to count?” Levi scoffed as his fingers moved to pull away one of the flowers.

“That one is mine. Give my regards.”

Levi stopped, raising an eyebrow before tucking the eighth flower back into place. “I see.” It was a simple acknowledgment, nothing further spoken before Levi turned to leave. “So even pigs understand mourning.”

“Rats too.”

The captain answered with a scoff, eyes rolling as he left the room.

(Thanks would come later, when the shame of making a request of a pig was forgotten.)

In a way, it was convenient that he had to visit the inner district. Levi didn’t have to travel far after leaving the city, traveling by horse for only a few hours before the small wood came into view. The Scouting Legion memorial cemetery was similar – small and unobtrusive – as it lay tucked deep within Sina territory.

Levi found it impressive; for all the complaints the Legion had earned in past years, when humanity had been content to rot within the walls, this had been one small grace they had always been allowed. Flowers held in his arms, Levi left his horse at the field’s edge. He continued on foot, wordlessly weaving his way between stones engraved with names and years, memorials to entire squads lost. Some were worn smooth with time, testament to the long years as slaves to the walls and titans alike, while others bore names Levi found painfully familiar.

He stopped alongside one stone, crouching beside it. The carved lettering was still fresh, not yet suffering from years exposed to the elements: _Mike, Nanaba, Rene, Henning, Gerger, Touma._ Levi removed a rose from the bundle, laying it alongside the stone. He straightened up, willing his own heart to stone before memories could be dredged up to claw at it.

He passed by another stone, and he made a wordless promise that he would return again in a few months.

When he finally stopped again, it was before a boulder, far larger than the other stones scattering the field. Names were carved in any available space, some areas worn most smooth than others. Levi remembered a time when he’d attempted to count every name, but he’d given up after reaching one hundred with no end in sight.

“It’s been seven years already.”

It was only because Levi knew where to look that he found their names.

_Farlan Church_  
_Isabel Magnolia_

Setting the roses at the base of the rock, Levi straightened to trace one finger over the letters, speaking the names aloud as he did. What other testament to their lives still existed, beyond his own memory and the rock before him?

_They died on their first expedition._  
_I know._  
_They didn’t join by their own choice._  
_I know._  
_You’re still having their names added?_  
_Of course. They died under our command, as soldiers of the Scouting Legion._


End file.
